The news earlier this week that The X-Files, the hugely popular science-fiction-cum-horror procedural created by Chris Carter, would be returning for a six-episode season, likely to premiere some time in 2016, came as a hesitant blessing for fans who even suffered through the post-Mulder seasons of the show, to say nothing of that atrocious second film based off the series. The announcement came as a particular stroke of luck for The New York Times, which scheduled an interview with David Duchovny before the news hit to discuss the actor’s upcoming NBC detective series, Aquarius, set around a murder in the 1960s. The interview, conducted by Jeremy Egner, effectively switched subjects to cover the return of Mulder and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to the small screen.

the-x-files
Image via Fox

Duchovny, expectedly, only had so much to say about the new series, but had a few morsels of information that would prove fascinating for any die-hard fan, including this writer. When asked about whether the format would be serialized or a collection of movie-of-the-week type storylines, the actor said, “We’re gonna do both. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna begin and end with the mythology.” He also revealed that the upcoming series will film in Vancouver, where much of the original series was shot. Discussing the timing of the return of the show, Duchovny went on to say:

“The time is right because we got our [act] together to do it. In terms of culturally or what people want to see, I don’t know. I imagine if we waited too much longer people would eventually lose interest. It’s different from something like “Star Trek,” which started out campy and then, especially with the J.J. Abrams stuff, became legit somehow. You might argue with me, but I always felt like we were legit. We’re still trying to do the same show. It’s not like were trying to make it 2.0, or whatever the .0 is now. 3.0. We’re gonna make the same show. But it’ll be interesting because Gillian and I are older. I don’t want to act like it’s 20 years ago.”

The rest of the interview largely centers on Duchovny remembering the making of the show, it’s origins, and ultimately it’s influence. The actor even goes as far as to identify Agent Fox Mulder as perhaps one of the worst agents in the history of the FBI. That very well may be true, but could any old FBI agent capably hunt down a gaggle of inbred, mutant murderers or, ya know, survive getting swarmed by blood-sucking fireflies? I think not.

the-x-files-i-want-to-believe
Image via 20th Century Fox.